Come in, Moonbase
by HiImDelta
Summary: The Kids Next Door Moonbase. The last defense before Fuse reaches Earth. Trapped in her own base with Fuse's forces, Kids Next Door Supreme Commander Rachel McKenzie must use what little troops she has left to fight off the start of a massive invasion. Can she survive, or will this be her last mission? (Rated T for minor language and gore)
1. Bracing For Impact

"Come in Moonbase!" A voice rose above the hustle and bustle on the bridge.

"We're kind of busy Numbuh One." Rachel replied quickly, continuing her conversation with one of the many operatives who had all but invaded the bridge. Sending the operative off, she turned to face the bald pre-teen who had appeared on one of the many screens attached to her control station. "What do you need?"

"I thought the planet wasn't supposed to be in range for another week."

Numbuh 362 rubbed her temples. "It wasn't. But according to our scientists, they put the pedal down."

The pit in Nigel's stomach deepened. "How long?"

Rachel sighed softly, donning her own worried look. "The planet has already launched…" She paused, trying and failing to come up with a good descriptor. "something. It shut down some of our systems. And half the escape pods."

"How long?" Nigel repeated.

Neither wanted to hear the answer. "Five minutes." A silence fell over Nigel, but Rachel continued talking, keeping busy in order to distract herself from the impending attack. "The S.C.A.M.P.E.R.'s are being prepped for evac, but I'm not sure how many will be ready in time. Who would've guessed a planet would have the element of surprise?"

"Right, well, I'll be waiting for you down here."

She stopped and looked up at him with a solemn face and a quiet tone. "Don't get too hopeful. If we can't get everyone out, I'll be staying here."

"But we need you down here. If that thing gets past the base-"

"If that thing gets past the base, they'll have you and they'll have Mandy. I need to be up here, to make sure they don't get past my moonbase. Now go. Tell all treehouses to prep their landing pads. Moonbase out." Rachel cut off the feed, the thought that those might be the last words she'd ever say to him stinging in the back of her mind. She turned her attention to her best friend, who had been waiting behind her. "Fanny, status report. How are we on S.C.A.M.P.E.R's?"

"We've already launched five, which carried all out scientists. Except for uhh..." Numbuh 86 flipped through the stack of papers clamped onto her clipboard. "Numbuh 74.239. He's opted to stay. Didn't say why. Unfortunately, the engineering and repair crew says they can only prep another five before whatever it is gets here."

"Of course he did. Well, fill those last S.C.A.M.P.E.R's to the brim." Rachel was about to leave, but paused for a moment before grabbing the clipboard right out of Fanny's hands. "Wait. Just sciencetists?" She asked, frantically skimming through the many reports. "What about the recruits? I thought Sector W were supposed to be the first off the base."

Fanny knew the question would come, though she still had hoped it wouldn't. She sighed, defeated. "Yeah…"

"Well?" Rachel followed up, fury rising in her tone.

"They..." Fanny thought about the best way to word her reply. "Well, they decided not to board."

Her wording, however, failed to stave off her superior's seldom seen, yet terrifying anger. An annoyed growl emerged from Rachel, and she shoved the clipboard into Fanny, forcing her to the ground. Turning completely around, she pointed directly at the communications officer, who sat wide-eyed at his desk by the monitors. "YOU!" He flinched in fear but managed to stand at attention. "Get my stupid brother on the phone!" She ordered.

He saluted her. "Yes, Numbuh Three Sixt-"

"NOW!" She screamed, cutting him off. A soft squeak could be heard from the officer as he began typing away. "I swear, if he's not in a S.C.A.M.P.E.R..." Rachel muttered through gritted teeth as her friend got up and brushed herself off.

She tapped her foot impatiently until the officer stood up and called out to her, stuttering from fear. "M-Ma'am, I have Numbuh 363 on monitor 7. Transmitting from vehicle bay."

The monitor switched over to show a young Harvey McKenzie. Upon recognizing his sister's furious expression, he froze in fear. "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL HERE!?" An audible gasp emerged from every operative within earshot. Swearing, or "Adult Talking" as it was known within the organization, was technically against the rules, not that anyone would've dared try to punish Rachel for it at that moment.

With Harvey's paralysis keeping him unwillingly silent, his squadmate Sonia stepped up, taking his place in front of the camera. Placing a hand to her head, she explained her sector's actions. "Ma'am, we elected to stay."

"Yes, I know! Why?"

"Because Ma'am, we're Kids Next Door. We don't run away."

Rachel sighed, unable to argue with that statement. "Still, you're just recruits." In an instant she'd gone from strict older sister to caring commander.

"Actually, we're technically full-fledged operatives. Sector W. Paddy may be home sick, but we're still a team." To prove her point, Sonia hooked her arm around Lee's neck, forcing him on screen with a sharp tug.

"You've only been active for a month. This was your first time up here. I don't want it to be your last."

The comms officer, his nerves calming as Rachel's anger dissipated, watched his commander with admiration.

"It won't be." Sonia replied, determination and enthusiasm erupting from her words.

"You're not scared?"

"Of course I am. But I'm more scared of what could happen if we aren't here."

Rachel stayed silent for a moment, knowing she would regret her next words, no matter what they'd be.

"Okay. Fine." She gave into the young operative's loyalty. "But if you're gonna stay, you're gonna have to work. Go help prep the S.C.A.M.P.E.R's. And actually, get Numbuh Mach 10 for me."

Sonia and Lee saluted before dragging Harvey off. A few seconds later, a young man with a pilot's helmet appeared in their place. "What's up?" He inquired, not having to bother with formalities.

"How many can you have ready?" Rachel asked, getting straight to the point.

"That depends. How much time do we have?" He answered with a question of his own.

"A minute and a half. Two at most."

"Well, like I told 86, we can probably get the next five done, but after that, your guess is as good as mine. Really depends on how much that thing messes up my hanger."

"Just five? How long does it take?"

"Ma'am, these were designed to hold one sector, maybe two. They're not buses. At least, not until we prep 'em."

"I know. Just... do what you can." Nothing was going satisfactory, so at this point Rachel was more rolling with the punches than actually trying to fight back.

"We are." The screen went black as the boy returned to his work.

"Okay, put me on the loud speaker." Rachel ordered her communications officer, walking over to his station and donning a headset.

"You're on."

"Attention all Kids Next Door operatives." Her voice resonated through the entire base. "We're about to get hit. We don't know with what, but it's probably not good. With the planetary bases lost, we are the last line of defense before Earth. We are fighting an enemy that we've never encountered, but an enemy undoubtedly like nothing we've ever seen before. But we can win. We always have. We always will."

"We have visual contact."

Rachel looked out through the gigantic glass dome that encompassed the bridge, focusing on the light green projectiles finally able to be seen amidst the planetic background.

As the final minute passed, one-by-one, operatives stopped their work to stare at the unavoidable attack. Among the final to cease work was Fanny.

"Are you scared?" Rachel looked over to her friend, her neck sore from staring up at the incoming objects. She stared into Fanny's eyes for a moment, making sure it was in fact Numbuh 86 who has said that, previously unaware that the toughest operative the KND had to offer could speak so quietly. So solemnly.

"Yes." Rachel thought about returning the question, but realized that by asking it, Fanny had already answered it.

Slowly, the young commander approached her main console, and was handed a mic from her predictive comms officer.

"Kids Next Door! Brace for impact!"


	2. Emergency Cookie Distribution

"Damage report!" Rachel ordered between grunts as she picked herself up from the floor.

"We've been hit, ma'am." One soldier pointed out.

"Well duh. Where were we hit?"

"Umm... Well... the bridge." The soldier replied, gesturing toward the large green blob that had appeared in the center of the command station.

"Okay, where else?"

Another kid stepped forward. "They probably didn't hit the air bubble generator, ma'am."

"Seeing as we're all still breathing, that's a pretty safe assumption. Now does anyone have news that isn't completely obvious?" The room fell silent. "Of course not."

A hand shot into the air, waving wildly. Rachel sighed. "Yes?"

"What should we do about that?" A girl asked, looking worriedly at the unknown object.

"PERMISSION TO POKE IT WITH A STICK?" Another soldier asked enthusiastically, stick at the ready.

"What? No. No touching it, at least not until 74.239 gets a good look at it."

"Can I shoot it?"

"No! Fanny, will you get these operatives out of here? Go… scout the area or something. See what else got hit."

"You heard her! Let's go!" Fanny took the group of soldiers out of the bridge. Rachel was left with just the communications officer and a couple guards at her side. And, of course, the giant green blob.

"You know, maybe I should poke it with a stick..." She muttered to herself.

"What was that ma'am?" One of her guards asked.

"Nothing." She turned towards the comm's officer. "Why haven't any other stations reported in?"

"Presumably, they are assessing the damage."

"Well put me back on loudspeaker." She ordered, picking up the headset that had fallen off her in the crash.

"You're on."

Rachel thought for a minute about what to say before deciding it would be best to get straight to the point. "DON'T TOUCH IT!" Her booming voice echoed as the speakers fed it back into the mic. "Now, I want all stations to report in. Don't leave your location unless you absolutely need to. We survived. For now at least."

She returned the mic to the officer and prepared for the inevitable maelstrom of frightened children who were about to appear on the screens in front of her.

–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–

"Come on! Keep going!" Fanny yelled to the worried soldiers behind her. "And for Pete's sake, put your weapons away. This is recon. Nothing's going to attack us."

"But..." One soldier quietly spoke up. "But what if something jumps out from the dark?"

Fanny stopped dead in her tracks, causing the less attentive operatives in the group to stumble. "Dark? DARK?! What dark? The power's still on. We can see fine, you idiot!" She gestured around the brightly-lit corridor they were traveling down. "Now COME! ON!"

As they pressed forward, Fanny's realized her pep-talk had done nothing to effect the group's walking speed and lack of confidence. Though she dared not show it, Fanny, too, was worried. Their enemy was unknown. It didn't matter that she'd be able to see the attack, she still had no clue how to defend against it. Though her weapon remained holstered, she kept her hand on the grip, ready to draw it at a moment's notice.

Just in case.

–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–

Even the communications officer, an operative that specialized in understanding speech, could not make out a single sentence from the dozens of operatives all speaking at once. Rachel, however, was used to this, and had a solution. "Mute all but screen one." With one press of a button, the incomprehensible white noise became a single, barely comprehensible, screaming voice.

"-and there's a breach but we're all still breathing but 313 passed out and hit 22 when he fell and there's a big green thing on the floor that almost hit Kenny, but it didn't, and I know you said 'don't touch it' but I'm not sure if shooting it counts as touching it and-"

"Okay. Okay. Listen." The panicking girl on the other side of the screen continued rambling. "HEY!" Eventually, Rachel got her attention, and the girl stood quiet, waiting for instructions. "Get 313 a band-aid and wake him up. Don't worry about the breach. The air bubble generator is working fine. You're going to be fine. Just stay there. I'm authorizing emergency cookie distribution. One per operative. I'm talking to you, Johnson!" She yelled to an off-screen operative.

"Yeah. Yeah." Came the distant reply

"Okay. Keep everyone together, and stay in contact." The girl nodded and moved to shut off her screen. "Oh!" Rachel grabbed her attention again. "And yes, shooting it counts as touching it."

The girl turned to her right. "She says it counts!"

Rachel was able to catch a disappointed "Aw man" before the screen went black.

A smile formed on Rachel's face. She sighed, readying herself to repeat this process another dozen times. "Mute all but screen two."

–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–

The small team of soldiers had trekked through most of the main base. On their stop by the now empty botanical area, they had reported in with Rachel, who sent them to check on the power station. Partly because it was the only station that hadn't reported to the bridge, but mainly because it was the last known location of the only remaining scientist on the base: Numbuh 74.239. Most of the engineers had been in the hangar, prepping the escape vehicles, but a few stayed in their sector in order to fix any of the inevitable systems failures that would come up after the base got hit. Rachel's theory was that they were too busy fixing other failures to fix their own. Fanny's was a bit more grim.

"Okay. Listen up! Right now, engineering's status is unknown. They could be hurt. Get med kits ready. Whatever those blobs are, they were obviously meant to do something."

"So why haven't they done anything?"

"Maybe they're waiting. Maybe they have and we just can't tell. We don't know. But for now, assume they are weapons. There will probably be one in there. I know our leader told us not to touch it, but if it even twitches, I want you to hit it with EVERYTHING!" Though her friend would prefer to think otherwise, Fanny knew that the most probable explanation for the radio silence was an attack. She didn't know why the enemy would attack engineering only, but she figured it was because it was the only station that wasn't abandoned or guarded. That, and knocking out the base's power would put the KND at an enormous disadvantage.

The entrance to the engineering sector stood before her. Lights still shone brightly, so if the enemy's plan was blacking out the base, they hadn't done it. At least, not yet. Fanny drew her spicer, aiming it directly at the door. "Open it." One of the soldiers hit a button and the door split in two, each half retracting into its respective side. Light seeped in from the corridor and a breach in the ceiling, but aside from the outside light sources, the room was mostly dark, short of an unhelpfully dim, pulsating green glow. The seeping light lit up parts of the ground, revealing root like objects that covered the entire floor and most of the walls and ceiling. As Fanny observed them, she discovered them to be the source of the green glow. It didn't take a science team to figure out where the roots spread from.

Fanny kept her weapon drawn. None of the other stations were like this. A single word popped into her head: Infected. Whatever that blob was, it had spread its roots, infecting the entire room. "Stay behind me. Weapons out." A couple soldiers activated flashlights on their helmets, which helped light up the massive station as they moved through it, never making any sound louder than breathing. When they got to the center, Fanny broke the silence. "Hello? Anybody here?" She inquired to the darkness. The darkness soon answered back.

Everybody jumped at the loud, blunt banging. They traced it to a blast door on the far end of the sector. The door was sealed shut and completely covered in roots. They heard the muffled yells of the engineering team through it. "Hey! Please help us! Please just let us out!"

"How?" Fanny yelled back.

"Pry it open! From the bottom!" One soldier handed Fanny a crowbar, and she jammed it underneath the door. Before she could start, one of the soldiers stopped her.

"Wait. What if it's the bad guys?" She asked fearfully.

"They're aliens, stupid. They wouldn't be able to talk to us." Another one replied.

"They could know English."

While Fanny didn't believe the girl, she decided to humor her. "Operative! What's your numbuh?"

"What? Um, 14.7." Fanny knew the designation 14.7 belonged to one of the engineers. A pneumatics expert. "See, not aliens."

"I'll believe it when I see it." The girl muttered.

Fanny resumed pushing the crowbar until the other soldiers could fit their fingers under to help lift it. Eventually, the door was opened and the roots that had rested on it flopped to the floor. As light leaked past the doorway, Fanny found six operatives cowering inside the reactor room, all engineers, and discovered that the room was untouched by the infection that had spread throughout the rest of the sector. "What happened?"

"We got stuck in. Once we were attacked, we hid in here. Blast doors were set to close and stay closed. Designed to keep in an explosion should the robo-hamster power coil ever overload. They weren't configured to open from in here. Never thought we'd need to."

"Okay. Are your comms still up?"

"Uh-huh." Came the meek reply from a still cowering engineer in the back of the newly opened room. "We just couldn't get to them."

"Right. You." Fanny ordered, pointing at one of her soldiers. "Check in with Numbuh 362. Tell her we got the engineers and are heading back."

Numbuh 14.7 emerged from the power room. "I'm just glad they sent soldiers. Without any real weapons, we couldn't fight off those little things. I guess they're weak to chilies." He said, noticing 86's sidearm.

"Little things?"

"Yeah. The little blobs." Fanny drew her spicer, giving 14.7 a clear understanding of what had actually happened, or rather, what hadn't. "Oh no."

"KIDS NEXT DOOR! Weapons ready! We're going to have company."

–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–

With the stations running fairly well on their own, and 74.239 still being out of contact, or perhaps just not bothering with it, Rachel, for once, had nothing to do. So she stood leaning against the communications desk, staring at the large object that had crashed through one of the many windows on the bridge. She then turned her gaze to the large hole it had left in said window. "Think we should be worried about that?" She asked, out of boredom more than anything else.

The comms officer assumed he was the target of the question. "No. Not yet. The air bubble keeps us breathing. As long as that's still working, we'll be all right."

"But what if it stops working?"

"If it stops working and we lose pressure, we're going to have a lot more smashed windows."

"Hm... Has 86 called in yet?"

"Not yet, ma'am."

"She's one of my best. I'm sure she's fine."


	3. Runners and Fighters

Weapons drawn, the squad flipped on their flashlights and began scanning the room. They slowly moved their heads from the back of the chamber forward, the light following their line of sight. Nothing moved. They kept turning until they all faced the front of the room. All eyes fixated on the large blob. Despite being fully illuminated by the operatives' flashlights in addition to the dim pulsating glow it emitted on its own, the alien object still seemed dark. Still, nothing moved. The silence in the room was enough to make some operatives shake.

"What did these things look like?" Fanny whispered to the engineer hiding behind her.

"Th-they were small, and green, and gooey, like giant boogers or something."

"Giant boogers?" Fanny repeated.

"Well, yeah." Fanny sighed, marking the end of the unhelpful conversation.

"Okay, we need to get everyone out." She said to the rest of the group. "Move towards the exit. The light at the end." The group shuffled forward, never breaking formation. They knew the creatures were here. In between them and the door was the blob, still pulsating with green light.

"Should we do something about that?" Fanny asked the engineer. She got her answer, not from the engineer but from the blob itself. Its pulse became more rapid, and its size began to increase. "Um, did it do that before?"

"I don't know."

"Okay, everyone, back up!" The mass continued to grow, its light becoming ever more rapid until it stopped pulsating entirely and resembled a giant green lightbulb. Fanny thought about her next course of action, before deciding to do what she does best. "Screw it. I'm gonna shoot it." The shot rang out from Fanny's blaster, hitting the blob dead center. Everyone watched carefully as it wobbled, every so slightly before, exploding in size. Smaller masses of goo started to grow outward on the enormous blob.

One operative commented on the outgrowing blobs. "Ew. Those look like-"

"Boogers." Fanny finished in a moment of realization. "Kids Next Door! Fire on the blobs!" She cried out. Flurries of chili-infused lasers and high-velocity gumballs shot toward the gooey mass. As the lasers merely made scorch marks while the gumballs caused ripples across the green surfaces, the blobs of green goo did nothing in response.

Until they did. Spurts of goo followed a large popping sound. One soldier yelled out in horror as he quickly removed his goo covered chest piece, tossing it beside him. Another squishing sound was heard. This time, however, it came not from the blob, rather, from the ground behind them, and suddenly, the operatives remembered that they weren't alone. Another scream pierced the tense air, this time from an engineer. "It's those things!"

Fanny stopped shooting and turned around, noticing the wave of sentient boogers assaulting towards them. "Behind us!" All but a few operatives turned and started firing on the aliens. But with only a few guns focused on the larger mass, it was able to grow and accomplish its task. One of the smaller globs formed a menacing face before detaching from its former nest. Jumping out from the glob, it attempted to pounce at one of its attackers, but was shot out of the air by one of the many shots being fired at the blog. Fanny's gaze returned to the massive alien mass, which was now releasing dozens of smaller goo monsters one at a time.

"We need to get out of here!" One soldier cried out.

"Right! Everyone, head for the door! Regroup at the nearest sector!" Fanny ordered amidst the chaos. The team broke out in a full on sprint, moving around the spawn-releasing blob. Despite their slug-like appearance, the aliens were only barely slower than the sprinting operatives. Fanny was one of the first out, but unlike the others who, upon exiting the infected sector, continued their sprint down the hallway, she stayed beside the door, ready to close off the room once everyone was out. As soon as the final engineer left, she smashed the control panel and the the two halves of the door slammed together, squashing one of the monsters beneath it as more of the monstrous blobs slammed themselves into the steel door in an determined yet illogical attempt to get past it.

Before he could run off to join the rest of the group, Numbuh 14.7 was stopped in his tracks as a hand grabbed onto the collar of his shirt and he found himself being yanked back towards the Scottish commander. "Is there any other way they could get out?" She nearly yelled at him, trying, and failing, to hide the fear in her voice.

"Uhh..." He hesitated, his fear of the monsters just barely outweighing the fear of the red-head. "The, uh, vents, maybe."

"We have a locking mechanism for the vents. Where is the switch?"

"Inside the-"

"Inside the room." She finished. "Of course."

"It's meant to keep things out, not in. But all lockdown systems can be activated remotely from the bridge."

"Then we need to contact the bridge." With their new heading in mind, the two ran off to meet with the rest of the group.

–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–

Rachel continued her rounds, keeping track of the status of each sector. Whenever a sector encountered an issue, she either solved it or redirected it to someone who could. It was and endless wave of "Message from the mess hall," "Message from the hanger," "Message from the armory," etc. Until she received a peculiar one.

"Message from botanical gardens." The botanical sector was part of the Moonbase's secondary function. Though it was mainly used as a central command station for the KND, it was also used as a research and development station for KND's science division.

"The gardens? Shouldn't that be empty, what with all the scientists gone?"

"Maybe it's .239."

"It better be. Put it on." The screen flashed up a familiar face, but not the one Rachel was hoping for. "Fanny?"

"LOCKDOWN ENGINEERING! VENTS AND ALL!"

"Um, okay." Rachel sprinted closer to the console in front of her, switching one screen to a tactical map of the base. She selected engineering and activated emergency protocols. "Its locked down. Fanny, what happened?"

"That thing that landed there, is it doing anything?"

"No, why? Should it be?"

"Find a way to contain it, we're on our way." With that, Numbuh 86 hung up.

"Thanks for all the information," Rachel said to the now blank screen. She stepped away from the central console and walked towards a storage closet.

"What are you looking for?" One of the guards asked once Rachel started digging through the closet.

"The closest thing we have to a force-field. Now will somebody find 74.239!?"

–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–

Numbuh 74.239 found himself in a small room, surrounded by darkness. He had only recently arrived, after spending much of the last twenty minutes looking for an isolated location. Once he was sure there were no other operatives within a hundred feet, he rolled up his sleeve and activated the small device on his wrist. A small holographic logo appeared hovering over the wrist-worn gadget. "Galactic Kids Next Door Operative Numbuh 74.239 placing a call to High Counselor Numbuh i," He spoke firmly into the deivice

"Hello, Numbuh 74.239." A computerized female voice responded, the scientist's voice replacing her own to fill in the built in sentence templates. "Numbuh i is currently unavailable. I will put you on hold. Current wait time: four years."

"Authorize emergency code six dash twenty-one dash nineteen dash five."

"Speech input unrecognized. Please repeat."

The scientist sighed, clearing his throat and swallowing his saliva in an attempt to make his voice more comprehensible. "I said authorize emergency code six dash twenty-one dash nineteen dash five." He repeated in a clearer, if more irritated, tone.

"Emergency code authorized. Connecting call."

After a couple seconds, the logo disappeared, replaced with a lower-case italic "i". "He's here." A deep female voice, different from the computer's, spoke out.

Numbuh 74.239 responded. "Yes. He arrived quicker than we had anticipated. We were unprepared. We still are."

"We sent you to help the Earth based Kids Next Door."

"I can't. I need to know how you fought him off."

"We did not. All GKND races that encountered Fuse fled their planets, including mine."

"These humans are not yet capable of mass interplanetary transport, much less planet-wide evacuation or interstellar relocation. Running is not an option!"

"Well then, I guess you'll have to fight."

"How?!" 74.239 asked angrily.

"You're asking the runners. Ask the fighters." Once that sentence was finished, the previous logo returned, and the scientist shut down the device. "Fine!" He exclaimed to nobody, slamming open the room's door beginning is walk to the bridge.

–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–

Being closer, 74.239 was able to reach the bridge before Numbuh 86. Rachel stopped her search once she heard the door open. She didn't greet the visitor, but her welcome was still more comforting than the guards, who raised their weapons towards the entering scientist.

"Well 'hello' to you too." He greeted the soldiers. "I've never seen the bridge this empty."

"Where the heck have you been?" Rachel shouted at him from the closet.

"Full of hospitality today aren't we?"

"Don't you start with me."

"I was... doing things."

"Okay... well, catch." The nerdy operative barely had time to react to the flying umbrella hat coming towards him like a frisbee, and yet he caught it with ease. "Oh, I didn't expect you to actually catch that."

He examined the device in his hands. "Why am I holding a birthday suit?"

"I need you to modify it into a forcefield. Can you do it?"

"Probably. It depends. How big do you want it?"

"Cover the entire station."

His eyes widened. "Sure, just give me five bajillion years."

"Okay, how about cover this thing?" She pointed to the still inactive blob.

Numbuh 74.239 frowned at the massive orb of goo. "Wouldn't it be easier just to cut it off?"

"With what? Do you have any idea how many nine-year-olds are on this base normally? Sharpest thing we have are safety scissors. You wanna try cutting through that thing with safety scissors, be my guest."

"Point taken. Maybe I can find a laser. Seriously, though, where is everyone?"

"Numbuh 86 took them scouting. They're on their way back now."

"It doesn't scare you just a little bit that we are currently scouting our own headquarters?" The scientist said grimly as he tinkered with the hat.

"I guess I didn't think about it like that." Rachel replied, the though now taking over her mind. "How long is the modification gonna take?"

"I don't know. I'm a scientist. This is a job for-" He was interrupted by the bridge door slamming open. A crowd of operatives came pouring in, 86 stuck somewhere in the middle.

"SECURE THE BLOB!" Fanny cried aloud as a group of soldiers surrounded the mass, weapons at the ready.

"-engineers." 74.239 finished pleasantly surprised to see the group that had arrived with with the scouts. "Should I be worried?" Rachel asked her friend.

"No. Well, yes. But not right now." The redhead replied unhelpfully.

"Okay, Fanny, you need to tell me what's going on."

"Those things are pods, holding some type of goo monsters."

Rachel immediately turned her to 74.239, who, having recruited the engineers, was now of in one corner of the room, tinkering with the protective device. "Work faster." The scientist met her gaze just long enough for a quick nod before returning to his assigned project.

"We need to get people away from them." She turned to her comms officer. "Loudspeaker, now." She grabbed the mic.

"Attention all kids next door. Back away from the blobs. If there is a safe, blob-free location near you, please go there imm-"

"Uh sir?" She was interrupted by one of the operatives on blob watching duty. "It's glowing, and growing." The operative pointed out roots that were quickly spreading.

"What does that mean?"

"It's about to release monsters," Fanny explained in a nervous tone.

"How much longer?" Rachel shouted to the engineers.

"Five minutes?" One replied. Rachel looked back at Fanny, who simply shook her head.

"Ma'am, I'm getting messages from all other inhabited sections." Her comms officer reported.

"Let me guess, their blobs are being weird?"

"Yep."

"Okay. Screw it! These things wanna fight? Then let's fight." She explained, removing her sweatshirt to reveal a samurai-like chest piece. "Go on full alert." The officer hit a large button, aptly labeled on their console and alarms sounded. Rachel picked up the mic. "KIDS NEXT DOOR!" She mentally prepared herself for what would come next. "BATTLE STATIONS!" The other operatives sprang into action, ready for the ensuing battle. Rachel grabbed her weapon, a long metal pole with a yield sign on one side and a boxing glove on the other, and took a commanding stance.

"Let's do this."


	4. Micromanagement

Rule one of being the leader of an army: Learn to micromanage. Rachel had learned this skill years ago. She was used to continuously managing the treehouses on Earth as well her own base on the moon. Secretly, she was slightly relieved that she now only had to deal with her base.

Not that that was an easy task. "Ma'am, every infected sector is reporting injuries."

"Tell them to assign a medic and get the injured to safety." At this particular moment, she was attempting to manage the other sectors while fighting off goo monsters that had assaulted the bridge.

She was doing pretty well. While the other operatives were spread out, she had taken the task of protecting the communications officer, partly because he couldn't fight, but mostly so that she could stay close and give orders. "Where should they go?"

"Was the medical staff evac'd with the scientists?" She asked between grunts.

"No. They don't fall under scientists. They're labeled as support staff, like the engineers."

"Really?" She stopped fighting and pondered for a second. "Well, I guess that makes sense. Though some of the scientists we evac'd were just gardeners. Hm." She resumed her battle. "Was the medical bay hit?"

"Nope. It's in the middle of the science quadrant, and the only sector in that area to not be evacuated. They probably assumed it was empty too."

"Good." She turned to the scientists, whom Fanny had begrudgingly decided to protect. "You guys-" She paused to dodge an alien slimeball flying towards her. "You guys done yet?"

The small group was still tinkering with the hat. "This is delicate work!" One engineer shouted back.

"That didn't answer my question!"

"Almost... almost..." 74.239 muttered to himself as he put on the finishing touches. "Done!" He exclaimed. 14.7 grabbed the device out of the scientist's hands.

"Catch!" He yelled to Rachel before trying to throw the hat towards her.

Trying. And failing.

"I'm hit!" An operative cried out dramatically after the umbrella hit him on the side of his head. Rachel sighed and sprinted toward where the device had landed, swinging her staff in every direction. Once she had obtained it, she ran back to the main console. "This thing keeps shields from both sides, right?" She asked an engineer.

"It should."

"Good." She removed her helmet and donned the hat. Once activated, the device emitted a layer of solid energy that formed around her, protecting her from the attackers and allowing her to manage the rest of the base. She started to type on her console, sending orders to each sector, telling them to grab anything important, shut down their systems and make a break for the science sector.

"Fanny, gather your troops get the tinkering team out of here." She shouted at her friend. "Take him too." She said, pointing at the comms officer. "Head towards the science sectors. The other sectors will meet you there."

"What about you?"

"I'm staying, for now. When I'm done here, I'll shield the blob, and run to the gardens."

"Then I'm staying too."

"No," Rachel commanded her. "You need to go. I need someone there to make sure everything goes well. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

The red head thought about arguing, but knew that doing so would only waste precious time. "Don't be late!" Fanny rallied her troops and pushing towards the door.

"If I don't arrive soon, DO NOT come back. I'm not risking you."

Rachel continued to work on the console, locking down sectors as they became empty. With the others gone, every monster in the area focused on her, though her shield prevented them from even nudging her. Once every sector had been evacuated, she shut down her console, grabbed her weapon, backed up, and swung the staff around, knocking away the surrounding creatures. "Time to go." She muttered to herself. Taking advantage of the stunned monsters, she sprinted towards the alien spawner and removed her shield, placing it on the blob instead. The device's hard-light field enclosed the nest, preventing it from spawning any more monsters.

Her objective complete, Rachel made a break for the exit, the feeling of being home free bringing a smile to her face as she arrived at the doorway. However, neither the feeling, nor the smile, lasted long, as they were replaced by stinging pain. Rachel looked down and noticed a spawn who had absorbed some of the broken glass on the floor to form make-shift teeth had now dug the shards into her leg, drawing a substantial amount of blood before detaching from the limb, leaving its temporary teeth behind. She cried out in agony. Using the boxing glove on her staff, she smashed the now red monster, splattering it across the ground. She had no time to bandage the wound, with the other monsters starting to come out of their dazed state. She limped through the doorway, hitting the switch to close the door once she was out.

The young general took a seat on the cold, metal floor, leaning her back against the wall, confident that she was safe, if only for the moment. She tore off the blood-stained portion of her right pant-leg and wrapped it around the bleeding wound. She noted that the wound was the worst she'd ever received. Even when she worked in the field, she had never gotten anything worse than a sprained ankle. Her leg wrapped, the girl arose, using her staff as leverage. She cried out in pain again once she put weight back on the injured leg, but remained standing. She limped away from the bridge in retreat, her staff being downgraded to a cane. The bridge was fairly close to the science sectors, but it would still take her well over ten minutes to get to the gardens.

Rachel remembered what 74.239 had said, about how odd it was that the Kids Next Door were scouting their own base. Now it was worse, she thought. Now they were retreating from one section of their base into another. Soon, they'd have to wage an assault on their base. As she hobbled through the hallway, Rachel realized something. Something that brought more fear than anything she's ever thought. She realized that, despite her endless confidence in her troops, despite their undying will, despite their experience and training, despite their numbers, despite everything, she wasn't entirely sure they'd win.

–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–

With all the operatives having gathered in one location, Fanny had taken it upon herself to do a head count. The Scotswoman mostly used it to take her mind away from her still absent leader and friend. Despite feeling an intense need to do otherwise, she followed Rachel's orders and stayed with the others. She realized after a few minutes of trying to count a moving crowd that it wasn't the most logical of ideas, yet her stubbornness and desperation to take her mind off Rachel forced her to persist. She left out the operatives who had been admitted to the infirmary. The excuse she gave herself was that the medical officers would tally them anyway. While this was true, the real reason she avoided the hospital, and its wounded residents, was to prevent the thought of Rachel being absent do to injury, or worse, from taking over her mind any more than it already had.

Eventually, the young commander gave up, half-jokingly reporting the head count at one bajillion. Nobody was reported missing, other than Rachel of course, so she cared not.

She was speaking with one of the sector heads near the entrance to the gardens when one of the operatives that were guarding the doorway interrupted. Considering the number of times she and other operatives had been cut off that day, she was ready to scream in the guard's face. However, as she turned towards the entrance, it was not a scream that left her mouth next, but a gasp.

"Rachel!?" The adolescent officer was practically dragging herself across the ground, putting more wight on her staff than on either of her legs. Her makeshift bandage had slowed the bleeding, but not before absorbing so much of the red fluid that the bandage itself was dripping it, leaving small crimson dots on the ground a she moved.

Three operatives who were guarding the entrance ran up to help, with Fanny following close behind. Knowing that help was on the way, Rachel finally felt safe enough to collapse on the ground. The last thing she heard before passing out was the clanking of the yield sign on her weapon, as it too hit the floor.

Fanny rushed up to her friend and screamed for a medic. "Lift her onto my back." Fanny ordered to the other operatives. The three worked together, wrapping the unconscious girl's limp arms around Fanny's neck. Once they had her in a standing position, they lifted her up and Fanny held her up by her thighs, piggy-back style. Fanny leaned forward in a hunched position, making sure Rachel didn't fall backward and carried her through the gardens toward the medical sector. Rachel's leg continued to leave small, scarlet puddles as Numbuh 86 moved through the sector. As Fanny walked through the gardens, every operative she passed looked on, either in surprise, in sorrow, or in horror.

Once Rachel's comm officer saw them, he ran up beside Fanny, following her to the medical area. Once they arrived, the officer calmly opened the door, and Fanny, panic having invaded her mind, made her entrance. "Hey!" She yelled out, getting every conscious person's attention. "Help!"

A senior medical officer, designated as Numbuh 120/80, ran over and started guiding Fanny to the closest empty bed. "What happened?" She asked.

"I don't know. She just showed up like this. She collapsed before we could ask." Fanny replied, trying and failing to hide the fear in her voice.

Once the wounded leader was placed in a bed, the doctor removed the make-shift bandage and revealed the bite marks, many of which had shards of glass embedded in them. "Okay, we need to get those shards out and close the wound."

"Can you do that?" Fanny asked, knowing that this doctor was only a child.

"Yes. I've done stitches before. You'd be surprised how many clumsy people are in the KND. It's rare, but it wouldn't be my first time." Technically, the doctor was a teenager, at age thirteen. Once the fusion planet had been detected, all decommissioning procedures stopped. Most believe this to be due to Rachel having turned thirteen since the planet was found, but in reality, Rachel simply decided that the KND needed every troop it could get. This resulted in most of the operatives on the moonbase being teens.

Rachel, and Fanny, knew that thirteen was still young, but as much as the KND was a fighting force, it was also the home to some of the smartest children in the world. They could handle themselves, better than many adults could.

The doctor gathered a small team, and, after removing the shards, stitched up and bandaged the wound. "She lost a good amount of blood, but she should wake up soon." She told Fanny, who was watching from a couple feet away, doing nothing to hide her panic and anxiety. A nurse arrived and delivered a glass of orange juice to the young doctor, who placed it on the table beside Rachel's bed. "Make her drink this when she does." She ordered the worried girl before leaving to attend to the other wounded operatives.

With no team of doctors telling her to stay back, Fanny rushed to the bed, ready to stay with her friend and wait for her to awaken. However, today was not a day that would allow waiting. A lone operative had arrived next to her, who hesitated for a moment after seeing his bandaged leader. "Numbuh 86? You asked me to come get you when we gathered the weapons."

Fanny sighed. The comms officer, who had been standing beside her, put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll stay. You go. They need leadership. Right now, you're the best they have."

"Call me the second she wakes up," Fanny ordered before walking away with the operative.

"I will."

–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–

"You know, I don't think I know your name." The comms officer looked up from his tablet at Rachel.

"You're awake." He noted, his priorities seemingly more in order.

Rachel spoke in a quiet voice, not yet having the strength to talk at normal volume. "I know your designation, Numbuh 10,000hz, but I'm not sure I know your name."

The boy smiled. "It's James."

"James," Rachel repeated. Before the officer could ask what had happened, the door to the medical area slammed open.

"Where is she!?" A young voice yelled out.

"Oh boy." Rachel didn't need to see the source of the question to identify them. The unique voice was enough to give away the identity of the operative who had entered the infirmary. Someone who wasn't even supposed to be on the base.

"There you are!" The voice belonged to one of the youngest operatives on the base, Numbuh 363, who also happened to be Rachel's younger brother. "What the heck happened to you?" He asked.

"I got bit." She said offhandedly. "But I swear, if I don't die, you're going to." Rachel warned him, the motherly side of her personality taking over.

"Wait, what? Why me? What did I do?"

"You stayed," Rachel replied bluntly.

"I wanted to fight. I'm KND too you know." Harvey defended himself.

"You disobeyed orders. Not just from your commander, but from your sister! What if you got hurt? This isn't some random adult supervillain. This is an invading army. They aren't gonna stop because you scraped your knee. You can't just-" She cut herself off.

"Can't what?" The young boy asked, ready to continue the argument.

"What is it?" Rachel asked, noticing the concerned look on James' face. The officer had his hand to his ear, listening closely to the message coming through his headset.

"Here." He grabbed his tablet, tapping it a few times before handing it to Rachel. He touched his earpiece again, transferring the transmission to the device. "It's on the main emergency channel."

A voice came over the speakers on the tablet. "Come in Moonbase, come in Moonbase. This is Numbuh 792 of Kids Next Door light team. We are on our way in a rescue vehicle. Please respond." The voice paused for a couple seconds, waiting for a response, before repeating the message.

Rachel listened a couple more times before turning to her brother.

"Go get 86."


	5. Hope and Fear

"Light team?" Fanny asked, as the message repeated in the background.

"A team of space pilots. Numbuhs 458, 792, and 299. The only fully trained space pilots the organization has. We were gonna use them to go to other planets." Rachel explained.

"Until the other planets came to us, right?" Fanny asked, referring to the alien's arrival.

"Right. Once the cluster planet was detected, all space endeavors went from manned exploration to unmanned scouting. Not as fun, but at least we got help from Dexcorp."

"Ma'am, can I point something out? This-" He said, pointing to the tablet that was playing the message. "isn't a message set to repeat. This is a live broadcast."

"What? I thought communications were jammed."

"Well, moon to planet are. But local is still working. Light team isn't on the main emergency channel for talking to the Earth. They're broadcasting on the intra-base emergency channel; the one operatives up here use to report injuries, malfunctions, that kind of thing, remotely. The channel is meant for short range transmissions. They must be sending a pretty strong signal."

Rachel stared at the tablet in her lap, pondering how exactly to respond. "What about us? Can we talk back on the same channel?"

"We have giant satellites. Talking to them won't be an issue." James leaned over and tapped the device a couple times. "It has a microphone. Go ahead, I guess."

Rachel hesitated for a moment before responding. "This is Moonbase. We hear you. Please respond. Over."

A couple seconds after Rachel ended her message, the incoming transmission cut off.

The room became silent, short of the humming of the radio. Rachel imagined it was just as quiet on the ship. A full minute passed before they got something.

"Say again, Moonbase? Please confirm last statement. Over."

The once-silent room erupted with cheers. They were no longer alone. In the midst of the cheers, Rachel spoke into the mic. "That good enough for you? Over."

"Yeah, that works. Good to hear you, Supreme Leader sir. Over." Numbuh 792 replied between laughs.

Rachel shushed the small crowd before asking the question she didn't really want to be answered. "Why'd they only send you? I mean, your ship is designed for interplanetary travel. Even S.C.A.M.P.E.R.'s can go from Moon to Earth. Why not send a fleet? Heck, I'm heck you could borrow Stickybeard's if you asked. Over."

It took awhile to get a response. "Well, to be honest, with the base facing away from Earth, and with communications down, we weren't sure you were even alive. And, well..."

"They didn't want to send a fleet right to the enemy just to rescue a dead base." Rachel finished.

"Yeah..." After a short pause, the space operative quickly added "But it's also because our ship is the fastest, and because a S.C.A.M.P.E.R. can't handle the extra maneuvers needed to escape the green meanie's orbit and enter yours, nor is it be equipped with the insanely powerful satellite dish and stealth device DexCorp fitted us with."

Rachel continued to exchange questions for a while, determining the size of the ship, establishing a landing area, and checking up on the planetary preparations, before finally asking for their ETA.

"When are you entering orbit?"

"Well... Now." Rachel returned the pad to James and began to rise from the bed. Fanny grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to stay still.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"We have to get every troop to the hangar. Clear a landing space." Rachel attempted to move despite Fanny's hold.

However, her friend's strength prevented her from moving anymore than an inch. "Every troop but you. You have a seven-inch gash in your leg. I let you get up, and you probably won't be able to stay up."

"I can stand fine." She replied, grunting out the last word as she pushed Fanny off of her. Fanny staggered backward. "I'm not sending all my fighters into battle while I lie in this bed." Rachel shifted her body so that her legs were dangling over the right side of the bed. Using the frame of the bed, she lifted off the mattress and did her best to stand, but the second weight was put on her injured leg, she winced in pain and fell back onto the bed. After looking dismissively at Fanny's worried face, she tried again. She still winced but managed to stand, barely. "See?" However, as she attempted to walk, she started to fall forward. Fanny caught the girl and put Rachel's arm around her.

"If you're going to be this stupid, at least let me help."

Rachel smiled, and hopped forward, using her friend as leverage.

"But you stay in the back. Like it or not, you can't fight. And since getting you killed isn't on my to-do list, I'm putting you in the back, where you'll stay. That's an order." Fanny told her.

"You can't give me orders. I outrank you." Fanny shot her an angry face. "Fine." Rachel sighed, admitting her defeat.

James joined the two friends and they hobbled through the medical center's halls. Before they could leave, the doctor who had stitched up Rachel's wound ran up, complaining that Rachel would rip her stitches. Rachel ordered her off, telling her to worry about the operative who were still in the beds. Once they exited into the gardens, all eyes turned to them.

Rachel, feeling it unnecessary to grab their attention when she already had it, got straight to the point. "Earth," She paused and gazed across the large crowd of operatives. "has been kind enough to send a rescue ship!" Cheers broke out. Rachel waited a minute before continuing. "But," She shouted, hushing the crowd. "They need a place to land! The only landing site large enough for the ship is the hangar, which is currently occupied by the enemy! So I'm thinking we go ahead and kick those gelatin jerks out and make room for our friends! Sound good?!" Cheers erupted again. "Alright! Let's go! Break off into teams and report to the entrance when ready!"

–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–

As cheerful as the crowd of child soldiers seemed at the rally speech, excitement quickly died down as the prepared for, what to many would be, their second significant battle of that day. For Numbuh 86's scouting party, it would be their third. The large number of injured operatives didn't help morale either. Operatives would pause their prep work to watch as the injured were moved from the medical ward to the gardens so that they could be ready to move to the hangar and board the rescue craft once it was secure.

Meanwhile, Rachel sat helplessly on a tree stump near the front of the gardens. Under normal circumstances, she'd be assisting her army, but her injury from the last time she helped meant still could barely move. "Here." A familiar voice got her attention. "This should help." Rachel looked up from inspecting her wound to see a young man clad in a lab coat. Numbuh 74.239 was holding out a metal leg brace.

"You made this?" Rachel asked, picking up and inspecting the brace.

"I had some, uh, free time." He held out his hand. Rachel returned the brace, and the scientist knelt down and put the brace on. He stood back up and held out his hand once again. Rachel took it, and he pulled her up. The girl could still barely walk, but if nothing else, she stay standing. She managed to go three steps before she began panting,as trying to overcome the pain quickly drained whatever energy she had left. 74.239 helped her back to her stump. "Save your energy. You'll need it."

"Thanks."

"It was no problem. Just make sure you win." He looked down at the stump she was sitting on. Otherwise, I'm gonna end up looking like this guy.

"I'll try."

"This nerd giving you trouble?" Another familiar voice, this time, a Scottish accent, grabbed Rachel's attention.

"Hardly," Rachel answered, turning her body around the stump so that Fanny could see her new brace.

"Fancy." The ginger half-mockingly complimented. "Though, I think my present's better." Fanny was carrying a long, hollow, metal post. On one end was a yield sign with bladed edges, on the other, a singular boxing glove.

"I was wondering where that went." Rachel reached out and grabbed her staff. "How are our astronauts?"

"Your boyfriend says they just entered orbit," Fanny replied, jokingly referring to Numbuh 10,000Hz.

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Of course not. Either way, he says they'll pass the hangar before we can even get there, much less secure it. So they have to go at least once more around the moon before they can land."

"That's not a lot of time."

"They can always go around twice."

"True. Are the teams ready?"

"We got about three-quarters of available troops waiting at the front."

"Good." Rachel recognized the suspicious look on her friend's face. "What?"

"Sector W is waiting there as well."

Rachel stood up from the stump and began limping towards the entrance. "Not for long they aren't."

Fanny ran up to help her. "They just want to help."

"What if Paddy was with them?"

Fanny stayed quiet.

"That's what I thought."

–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–

Rachel got to a hill overlooking the troops. Once she spotted Sector W, she yelled out to them. "Sector W! Please report to Numbuh 362 immediately!" The three young operatives looked up and started walking toward their commander.

"I know what you're gonna say, and I don't care. We're going." Harvey surprised Rachel by speaking first. "I know you don't want to believe it, but we are Kids Next Door." Harvey stood his ground, his dertermined look hiding the fact that he was just as surprised that Rachel had allowed him to speak first.

"I know you are. Medical team needs help with the injured." She said, looking to Sonya. She then moved her gaze to Harvey and Lee. "They could also use a couple guards." She quietly, yet firmly. "I'm assigning you guys to help."

"But-" Harvey was about to speak out when he saw the look in Rachel's eye. He saw in it something he had almost never seen in her before. Fear.

"Okay. We'll stay." Sonya told her. The young nurse saw it too. She easily recognized the emotion, as it was one she was far too familiar with. Sonya grabbed Lee and Harvey's hand. She generally knew better than to touch Numbuh 363, but she also knew that he wouldn't mind this time. Her new orders obtained, she dragged them off towards the injured operatives.

A small smile formed on her face as she watched them walk down the hill.

"They'll be fine." Fanny reassured her.

"Honestly," Rachel moved her gaze towards the dozens of troops waiting at the front of the gardens. "It's not them I'm worried about."


End file.
